Chapter 4

Even though she had already decided to end the marriage, those two sentences still made it hard for Serena to breathe.

She thought she was past the pain, but Carter's actions proved her naive once again.

For a moment, she wanted to storm in and ask him why.

Why let his mistress pick out gifts for her? And gifts the mistress had already tried on!

But instead, she just put the phone back where she found it.

With each passing moment, the love she had built over ten years was being worn away.

She was pulled from her thoughts by the familiar scent of his body wash.

Carter's handsome face appeared before her, full of concern.

"Honey, you look so pale. I'll call the doctor."

Serena watched him reach for his phone and stopped him. "It's nothing. Just cramps. You know how it is."

Carter paused, then sat beside her, his hand moving to her lower abdomen. His voice was low.

"I'm sorry, Serena."

"If I had known having a child would put you at so much risk, I never would have let you go through with it."

Serena closed her eyes, feeling the warmth of his hand.

"It's okay. I chose to."

For this man, she had risked her life on the operating table to give him a child.

She had just forgotten how easily people change. Carter was no longer the boy who had sworn at Columbia that she was the only one for him.

If Carter truly cared, he would remember that her cycles had stopped permanently after that surgery.

Carter was about to say something else when his phone rang.

He answered, and after a few seconds, his expression shifted.

"There's a major issue with the West Coast project. I have to go handle it immediately. Don't wait up."

He didn't even wait for Serena to respond before striding toward the door.

Watching him head to the closet to change, Serena felt like the winter wind was cutting straight through her chest.

His phone screen had clearly shown the name "Vivian." Did he really think she couldn't see it?

She hadn't seen that kind of urgency from Carter in a long time.

Serena stood up and said to the nanny, "Keep an eye on Leo. Call me if anything comes up."

Then she put on her coat and walked out of the apartment.

Sliding into her car, she dialed a number. "Tara, want to grab a drink?"

Tara was her only college roommate still in New York, now a sharp corporate lawyer.

After marrying Carter, Serena had gotten absorbed in the world of wealthy housewives and hadn't kept in close touch.

A sharp laugh came through the phone.

"Who is this? Serena wouldn't be calling me to go out drinking this late. If that's really her, I'll eat a bottle of bourbon."

Serena was startled, then laughed and video-called Tara.

......

An hour later, in a dim dive bar in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Serena looked at Tara, whose eyes were glazed, and smiled.

"Future senior partner, which bottle are you eating?"

Tara said nothing and took a long swig of her beer.

Serena tried to stop her, but Tara's next words pinned her to the barstool.

"Serena, I didn't think I'd ever see the real you again."

Tara's eyes were red. "After you got married, you practically disappeared from my life. Like... our friendship meant nothing compared to your perfect marriage."

She met Serena's gaze. "So seeing you here, in a dive bar like this, drinking with me? It makes me really happy."

The truth stung, but it was honest.

Serena looked down, blinking back tears.

She had pushed away one of her closest friends for a love that had turned sour.

After a long pause, Serena lifted her head and smiled at Tara.

"Then here's something that'll make you even happier. I'm filing for divorce."

Tara's eyes widened. But instead of asking questions, she just raised her heavy beer glass.

"Serena, welcome to freedom!"

Their glasses clinked, Serena's laughter rising above the sound.

"To the future!"